Couple shocked as 747 plane engine falls through shed roof

A couple living in Belgium were shocked when part of a Boeing 747’s engine plunged through their garage roof.

Louis and Adela Demaret, from Waremme in the Liège region of Belgium, found the item on Thursday 8 September, after it damaged their garage window by dropping from the sky.

Another section of the plane’s engine landed next to the couple’s driveway. Fortunately no one was injured.

The flight was being operated by Air Atlanta Icelandic, and was travelling to Malta-Luqa airport when it lost the aft cowl of one of the engines.

Mr Demaret told Belgian news website 7sur7 that he had first thought the noise was from a storm that had passed over the region.

A neighbour’s Facebook post about the incident

(Herve Rigot)

“We were in our bedroom and we heard the noise of an aircraft, flying low above the house. A few minutes later there was a deafening noise,” he told reporters.

“I thought that it was from the storm and nothing was visible from our window. It wasn’t until the morning that we noticed the piece [of engine] and the damage.”

The flight safety analyst JACDEC tweeted about the incident, saying: “Air Atlanta Iceland (opf Magma Avn) Boeing 747-400F (TF-AMC) lost engine parts during climb-out of Liege AP (EBLG), Belgium.

“Large parts of an engine came down in Waremme. No one was hurt. Flight #CC320 to Malta continued to its destination.”

Due to the damage caused to their garage roof, emergency services were called and the area was cordoned off by firefighters.

The incident happened not long after take off. In spite of the incident, the flight continued to Malta and nobody on board was injured.

According to Aviation.24be, the couple is currently expecting the Air Accident Investigation Unit (AAIU) to visit to investigate the situation further.

A spokesperson for Air Atlanta Icelandic said: “At 21:30 UTC on the evening of 08 September, 2022, our B747-400 freighter (registration TFAMC) took off from Liege Airport in Belgium on a scheduled flight to Malta.

“The aircraft landed after an uneventful flight, but during arrival inspection in Malta a technician noticed a missing engine cowling, which has since been discovered on the ground in Belgium.

“The incident and its root cause are now being investigated in full cooperation with the relevant authorities in Belgium and Iceland and Boeing has been contacted for technical consultation.

“The aircraft has since been repaired and resumed regular operations. Fortunately, nobody was injured because of the event and all damages related to it will be compensated in full.”

Meanwhile, in the UK, passengers were forced to turn around after just 20 minutes when their easyJet flight, bound for Prague, was rerouted due to a “technical fault.”

The plane made it as far as Blackburn before pilots made the decision to U-turn and land at its departure point, Manchester, on 10 September, due to what was believed to be an issue with the flaps on the aircraft’s wings.